Former GOP Rep. Mayra Flores switches districts to challenge Rep. Vicente Gonzalez for third time

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Former GOP Rep. Mayra Flores announced on Wednesday that she is switching back to her original district to challenge Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, in 2026.

Flores’ decision to run in the 34th Congressional District comes months after she launched a campaign in the 28th District against Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and just days after the Texas Legislature approved a new congressional map that gives Republicans better odds to capture Gonzalez’s South Texas district.

“Texas’ 34th District has become one of the top GOP pickup opportunities in the country,” Flores wrote on social media. “This race is not over, and our mission is far from complete. I have unfinished business.”

Another Republican, Army veteran Eric Flores — no relation to Mayra — announced his candidacy against Gonzalez in July.

Mayra Flores represented the 34th District in 2022 for about six months after winning the seat in a special election.

She lost her reelection to Gonzalez, who switched districts himself when his previous seat was drawn to favor Republicans, in November 2022. Gonzalez went on to narrowly defeat Flores for a second time in 2024 by less than 3 percentage points, even as the swing seat was carried by Republican Donald Trump.

Flores is the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress. She immigrated to the United States, where she is now a citizen, when she was six years old, according to her campaign website.

Flores, who was endorsed by Trump in 2024, wants parents to have control over their children’s education, according to the website. She’s also focused on securing the border and strengthening Texas’ economy.

Gonzalez acknowledged to The Texas Tribune in July that changes to district maps could hinder his reelection chances.

“The only way Republicans can beat me is by cheating and changing the district maps,” he said in the July statement.

While Trump won the 34th District by 4.5 percentage points last year, the newly approved lines turn it into one he would have carried by a more decisive 10 points.

The seat is anchored in the Rio Grande Valley’s Cameron County, covering the border cities of Brownsville and Harlingen. It was redrawn to include parts of conservative Nueces County and its biggest city, Corpus Christi, while dropping parts of McAllen and Hidalgo County.

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